Factors to consider when choosing a lung cancer treatment facility
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, it might be tempting to start treatment at once. However, there are many factors to put into consideration before you choose a cancer treatment center.
What are the factors to consider when looking for a lung treatment facility?
Quality of Care
Choosing a good lung treatment center like lung cancer Orange County facility with a reputation for offering high-quality services should be your priority. Luckily, some databases can assist you in researching this.
The most resourceful databases include:
American college of surgeons The ACS has compiled a list of facilities accredited by the Commission on Cancer organization. For a facility to get into this list, it must comply with some specific standards and be dedicated to offering the best cancer treatment.
The NCI: The NCI has a list of approximately 70 designated facilities. There are some requirements for a cancer facility to make a list.
Comprehensiveness of Care
Treatment of lung cancer is complex since you require several specialists who attend to various aspects of cancer or conditions related to your lung cancer.
These specialists may include:
- Palliative care specialists
- Oncologists
- Radiation oncologist
- pulmonologists
- Thoracic surgeon
Patient Volume
Big lung cancer facilities that specialize in large numbers of patients have several benefits.
One benefit is that they usually have the latest technology. When you have many patients, you gain a lot of experience. Thus, doctors in more extensive cancer facilities are likely to be familiar with many types of conditions.
Moreover, research suggests that patients with lung cancer surgery from high-volume hospitals are less likely to suffer complications and do better than patients at centers where doctors attend fewer cancer patients.
Less apparent advantage facilities with large patients volumes are the likelihood of having strong support groups for recovering patients.